


Much Ado

by Wallissa



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22723687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallissa/pseuds/Wallissa
Summary: Billy receives a very ill-timed birthday present. At least that's what he thinks it is, before remembering that he's dating a helpless romantic.(a mix of roses-gin-leather, bruising affection and red pepper)
Relationships: Frank Castle/Billy Russo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29
Collections: The Punisher





	Much Ado

“Oh, hey, by the way.” 

Billy looks up from his phone and tilts his head back to catch Frank as he passes by behind him. “Yeah?”

“Here.” The angle is terrible and Billy’s neck protests as he tries to angle his head back further, but he makes out the general direction of Frank’s hand and reaches out so Frank can drop the object he’s holding into his palm.

It’s a little parcel, wrapped in paper, and he immediately recognises the way its weight settles in his hand. Their old leather couch groans as he straightens, pulling his arm back to look at the perfume box in his palm. It’s wrapped in matte black paper, obviously in-store because Billy is pretty sure they don’t have that type of wrapping paper.  
“You got me Cologne?”

Frank leans against the back of the sofa, forearm brushing Billy’s shoulder. “Happened to stumble across it.” There’s a shrug in his tone, a lightness that feels warm and heavy in Billy’s chest. It’s – well. Frank’s that kind of thoughtful, always out to get Billy red pepper or the brand of Ginger Ale he likes, but going out to buy a Cologne is a bit of a step up from driving to the store ten minutes further away to get a specific brand of sparkling soda.

“I- thanks.” Billy slips a knife out of his pocket and carefully opens the packaging. It’s thick paper, not the glossy-teary cheap shit, which means that Frank at least didn’t stumble around a Sephora. And, well. Billy can appreciate that, considering his usual choices are Tom Ford and Chanel. 

The packaging, once it’s revelaed, is an odd combination of sleek-elegant corners and pop-vintage details, completely unfamiliar to him. It opens and the bottle slides into his palm. Wine-red flacon, the bottlecap a golden head of a dog. “You know, this is all terribly eccentric. How did you ‘stumble upon’ that, huh?” He keeps his voice light, gently teasing rather than mocking as he runs his thumb over the name of the fragrance.

“It’s a British brand.”

“British, huh? Well, that explains the design. And how come you were looking for British scents? As far as I know, your cologne of choice isn’t exactly continental.“ As he’s speaking, Billy takes off the bottle cap and rolls up his sleeve. It takes two, maybe three tries, followed by the familiar cool mist on ticklish-sensitive skin, the brief glitter of perfume dust in the late morning sun. The scent shimmers on his wrist, pale with blue veins. A Duke indeed, he thinks as he waits for the scent to settle before bringing his hand closer to his face. He inhales softly, his lashes lowering, shoulder brushing Frank’s arm.  
Roses, a touch of gin. The promise of leather, wood.

Without turning his head, Billy catches the exact moment Frank’s bravado leaves him. The creaking leather of the backrest, the slight rustle of his clothes as he rests most of his weight on one leg. His little sniff. 

“Oh, that’s _nice_. That’s very rosy, right?” The tip of his nose tickles his pulse point.

“It gets a little sharper, ‘s very sweet at first. But I thought –“

“Yeah, I love sweet.” Billy lowers his wrist to give Frank a wink. It does wonders for easing the tension in Frank’s spine, so Billy decides to move on to the actual question that’s burning on his tongue. “Now, not that I don’t appreciate it, but last I remember, my birthday’s in August, so – “ The thought comes so sudden that he stops mid-sentence to snap his head up to stare at Frank. “Oh, no _way_.” 

This time, Frank scrunches his nose up and looks at his hands. The tension is back in his shoulders, but now the tips of his ears are pink, too. “It’s really not –“

“You got me a gift for Valentine’s Day?”

The way Frank looks up makes it obvious that he can’t place the tone of Billy’s voice, doesn’t know whether he’s being made fun of. Dark eyes, cheeks sucked in a little, still very pink around the nose and cheeks. “It’s just, you know, since –“

“No, shut up, don’t ruin it. That’s so fucking cute.” Billy huffs a laugh and gets up, turning to lean over the sofa dividing them and wrapping his arm around his shoulders. It’s a terribly awkward angle and Billy’s more than aware that Frank chose his position deliberately to put some kind of shield between them, the repressed idiot. 

For a second, Frank remains true to fashion and stiff in his arms, but then he melts, palms resting on Billy’s hips. “If you don’t like it, just throw it out. I mean, I doubt you can return it but – “

“Jesus, man, shut up. I love it. It’s very nice. Very thoughtful.” Billy slips his hands over Frank’s shoulder blade and, while he’s at it, tilts his head a little to kiss Frank’s cheek. “I mean it. It’s sweet. Didn’t think we’d do that kind of thing, or I’d –“

Frank makes a soft sound, does the bare minimum of shaking his head that gets the point across without knocking against Billy’s nose painfully. “No, ‘s fine. As I said, it was pretty spontaneous, I don’t expect anything in return.”

Here, Billy laughs again, a soft thing in the back of his throat. Because that’s Frank too, isn’t it? Trying to comfort Billy after getting him a gift. “You big liar,” he says fondly, slipping his hands down to Frank’s waist to tug at him, trying to get closer with the leather barrier between them. “You went out and bought me a fancy Eau de Parfum with a little golden dog head that smells like roses.” He pauses, smiling to himself as the bubbly-golden happiness foams up in his chest like champagne, rises to his head to make him feel light and dizzy-tipsy. “Because it’s Valentine’s Day and you like me.”

“Well, yeah.” Frank tilts his head a little, tucking his face into the crook of his neck. His exhale is ticklish-warm against Billy’s throat and he can’t stop smiling. 

“Yeah,” he says softly and his grip on Frank must be painful by now. Still, Frank doesn’t pull back, just lets Billy bruise him up because he knows Billy won’t know how to articulate himself any other way. 

When Billy finally pulls back, his cheeks hurt a little. His eyes sting, too, but he blinks that away. He slides his palms up Frank’s chest to rest his forearms on his shoulders and his goofy, soft-hearted, champagne-fuzzy smile turns into a bit more familiar a grin. Something a little more comfortable, a little shaper. “Alright. So, Romeo. Do we have any other plans for the day?”

Frank huffs and slaps his hip, making him laugh. “Stop it. No, I didn’t plan anything else.”

Billy hums, a purr-soft little sound and scratches the buzz-soft hair on the back of Frank’s neck. “Alright, sure. My turn.”

In the grand scheme of things, Billy has had some slip ups in the past regarding plans. Experience has taught them both that he’s usually better at them when he’s working with Frank rather than cooking them up on his own, at least. The plan he suggests now, though, whispered with his lips brushing the shell of Frank’s ear, his fingers tangled in Frank’s hair, his leg slipped over Frank’s sprawled legs, seems to be acceptable. That is, if the way Frank tilts his head up to slip his tongue into his mouth is any indication.

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly: Thank you so much for reading!!!
> 
> The fragrance Frank “stumbles upon” is Penhaligon’s “Much Ado about The Duke”. Hence the title of the fic. My guess is that Frank probably sniffed his way around some very exclusive shop and finally told the shop assistant that he’s looking for something for a refined, beautiful, witty, handsome, clever, very attractive man and the lady went “I have just the thing”. That’s how Billy ends up with this £192 perfume about a gay duke.  
> EDIT: I forgot to *add the perfume link*!!! I'm so sorry. [Here](https://www.penhaligons.com/uk/en/product/much-ado-about-duke-000000000065121094) is the link to the website. And here's the [luckyscent link!](https://www.luckyscent.com/product/441017/much-ado-about-the-duke-by-penhaligons)
> 
> Also, regarding the birthday - it’s such a minor detail but I’m a zodiac tinfoil hat person, so I did some real thinking for this. On that note: I still can’t get over the fact that Frank is canonically a Scorpio. I love that for him. So based on that I had to find something nice for Billy and ended up with Leo, since those signs are compatible and I mean. Come on. It’s fitting.  
> So in short, that’s why his birthday is in August. 
> 
> This is part of my "oh wow let's write 5 Valentine's Day drabbles in 3 days" ..event (?) and thus I didn't elaborate much on the context. Know that Billy rides him on that couch, though, and decides that he prefers the scent when it's mixed with sex and sweat. I might return to that whole concept in the following days - if you're interested, you can check my [writing tumblr](https://typinggently.tumblr.com/) to a) see whether I'm talking about it or b) kick me to do it.  
> (you can, of course, also do the latter in the comment section, if you'd like <3)
> 
> Either way - thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a nice Valentine's Day!!


End file.
